Words on the Windshield
by The Queen of Valencia Torgue
Summary: Piper helps Annabeth decide what to do with her Seaweed Brain. Set sometime after SoN. Percy has his memory. One-shot.


**Hey peoples! I was getting ready for bed the other night and this one-shot popped into my head, so I grabbed my lap-top and wrote it down! Hope you like it!**

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><p>Words on the Windshield<p>

Piper was walking along the beach at her house in California. It was a beautiful day, pleasantly warm, with a slight breeze coming in from the ocean. She sighed happily and plopped down in the sand. The next second, her phone rang. She looked at the caller ID and saw that it was her friend Annabeth. She picked up. "Hello?"

"Piper? It's Annabeth. Have you got a minute?" Her friend sounded anxious.

"Sure, I'm not doing anything. What's up?"

"I've got a problem. With Percy."

"_Oh sure."_ Piper thought. _"Boyfriend troubles. Is that all a daughter of Aphrodite is good for?"_ Out loud she answered, "Uh oh. What kind of problem?"

"Well, it started the other day when I was at his apartment to pick up a DVD I wanted to borrow." Annabeth sounded a little calmer now. "He was in the living room getting the movie, and I was in the kitchen. He was kind of taking a long time, and I happened to see a receipt on the counter from a jewelry store. On closer examination it turned out to be for a ring."

"Oh, Annabeth!" Piper squealed, she couldn't help it, "Congratulations!"

"Thanks, but he hasn't actually asked me yet. That's part of the problem. But continuing on with the story, I heard Percy coming back, so I swiped the receipt."

"No way!" Piper was surprised, "Why did you do that?"

"Well, I can't stand not knowing things, so I wanted to take a better look at it. And you'll never guess what I found out." Now Annabeth sounded disgruntled.

"Do I even want to know?" Piper asked warily.

"The date on the receipt was from three whole months ago! He purchased the ring three stinking months ago and hasn't said a word!"

"I see. Did you confront him about it?"

Annabeth sighed. "No. But I did do some detective work. I went to the jewelry store that he had bought the ring from and asked to see a photo of the ring. They always keep a picture for insurance purposes. The clerk was a bit suspicious at first, but finally let me see it when I told him that I was Percy's step-sister and was going to help plan the wedding."

"Is it gorgeous? The ring, I mean?"

It sounded like Annabeth was smiling as she said, "Yeah. It's gorgeous. It's a silver band with a huge pearl held in place by a ring made of sapphire."

"Wow." Breathed Piper, "You're so lucky!"

"But that's my problem. If he has a beautiful ring all ready, why is he waiting so long to give it to me?" The anxious tone was back.

Piper thought for a moment. "I can think of two possibilities," she said at last. "One, he might be waiting for the perfect moment, or two, he might be scared."

"Scared?" Annabeth asked. "Why would he be scared?"

Piper smiled. "It's a huge step in life, getting married. Or he might just be afraid that you won't say yes."

Annabeth was silent for a moment. Then she sighed. "Great. Just great. What should I do about it?"

Piper bit her lip. "Well, usually I'd say just wait and see, but if it's already been three months since he bought the ring, I think you need to ask him."

"Ask him to marry me?" Annabeth sounded extremely surprised. "How?"

Piper smiled. "I think I've got an idea."

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><p>Percy woke up feeling rather cheerful. He had to work that morning so he quickly ate breakfast, took a shower and got dressed, tunelessly humming happily all the while. He grabbed his wallet and keys, and exited the apartment. A moment later, he was back. He hurried into his bedroom and opened his sock drawer, then grabbed a small velvet box. He shoved the box into his jacket pocket, and left the apartment again. He took the elevator down to the main level and went out into the bright sunshine. His blue car, a graduation present from his dad, was parked out front. He went to the driver's door, unlocked the car, and was about to get inside, when all of a sudden, he froze. Spray-painted on the front windshield were two words.<p>

Unbeknownst to him, Annabeth was standing a few feet away, wearing her invisibility cap so as not to be seen. She surveyed her handiwork. She hadn't had much experience with spray paint, but she thought that she had managed to do a fairly good job.

Percy was staring at the words, trying to make them out. With his dyslexia, it looked like it said: raMyr e?M At last, he managed to make it out. "Marry Me?" he whispered, sounding puzzled.

Annabeth knew it was time to move in. "So, will you?" she asked, moving so that she was standing right next to him.

Percy jumped. "What?" he asked, still looking at the car.

"Will you marry me?"

"Um, I'll be right back." Percy turned and ran back into the apartment building.

Annabeth took off her invisibility cap and hollered after him, but he was gone. Frustrated, she stomped her foot.

Just then, her cell phone rang. 'Piper Mclean', the caller ID said. She flipped it open. "Hello?"

"Hey," Piper said, "How's it going?"

"Not very well," Annabeth replied. "He—"

She was interrupted by the beeping noise that announced that she had a call waiting. Annabeth checked the caller ID. "It's Percy, I'm going to have to call you back."

"Okay," said Piper. "Good luck!"

Annabeth clicked over. "Hello?"

"Annabeth? It's me." He sounded worried.

"Hey, Seaweed Brain, how are you?"

"My car just asked me to marry it."

"What?" Annabeth was shocked.

"I went to get in my car to go to work, and my car asked me if I would marry it!"

Annabeth face palmed. "Percy, that wasn't your car. Get down here."

"What?"

"I'm standing next to your car, get down here."

"Um, okay. Here I come. Love you." He hung up. A minute later, he reemerged from the building wearing a confused expression. He walked over to Annabeth. "When did you get here?"

She smiled wryly. "About an hour ago. Spray painting isn't as easy as it looks."

"You mean—" He looked at the car, then back at Annabeth. "Oh."

Annabeth took a step closer to him. "So? Will you marry me?"

Percy looked stunned. He nodded as if he was in a dream. "Yeah. Yeah, I will."

Annabeth smiled. "Good." Next thing she knew, they were kissing. When they finally paused for a moment, Percy remembered the ring.

"Oh!" he exclaimed.

"What is it?" Annabeth asked, worry crossing her face.

Percy pulled out the ring box and opened it. "I know you ended up asking me, but do you still want this?" The ring flashed beautifully in the sunlight.

Annabeth kept smiling, but managed to roll her eyes. "Seaweed Brain?"

"Yes?" Percy asked.

"I thought you'd never ask!"

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><p><strong>The end! Kind of fluffy, I know, but I like it. I'd like to thank my little sister for the talking car idea, and my parents for the note on the windshield. And I'd like to thank whoever is reading this. Please favorite, andor review! -Queen**


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